A moment of enlightenment
by ThemyThink
Summary: Clarity is the key to most good plans. This was not a good plan but it was better than the alternative. I will save her, even if it costs me. Good thing I am hard to kill.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Yeah, I'm a butthurt fanboy, so sue me

The kiss came so fast that he was dazed by it. So unexpected, Pyrrha Nikos, his gorgeous partner who happened to be a four time Minstral tournament champion, a celebrity, she who was so far out of his league that he was surprised she even became his friend, just kissed him. Him, the inexperienced kid who cheated his way into beacon and probably only got to be team leader because of blind luck.

Washed away were all the protests on his lips about her plan to confront Cinder. Gone were all his worries and pains. For that moment, he was in bliss.

But all that is good must end. Suddenly Pyrrha pulled out of the kiss. A happy but hard look on her face.

"I'm sorry."

I got a second to be confused before she pushed me away. Right into a metal box.

"Hey!?"

She shut the lid on the box with her semblance. Making me realize where I was pushed into. A rocket locker. Immediately I understand her plan. She will rocket me away and fight Cinder alone.

"Wait. Stop. Stop. Pyrrha, please don't do this."

My pleas fell on deaf ears. She just typed in the destination of the rocket locker and took a long, loving, look at me before triggering the launch sequence of the locker.

The contraption took off at a fast pace, pushing me down on my knees. The sheer pressure of being inside a rocket threatened to kill me, and probably would have, if not for my aura.

The trip was a rather short one, lasting only half a minute at most. But when it's a rocket you are traveling on, half a minute could mean miles and miles of distance between you and your starting point. I realized that as the pod slammed into the ground and ejected me into a neighborhood that I knew was on the other side of Vale from Beacon.

The pod door opened automatically and I fell into a pile on the ground. I found strength within me to get up and moving despite everything that had happened in the last hour or so.

My first priority was to look around for any grimm, if I was going to help Pyrrha I needed to be alive myself.

After making sure that there were no Grimm in my vicinity I pulled out my scroll and dialed the first person that came to my mind and who I knew were still at Beacon. Weiss.

The scroll rang only for a couple of moments before she picked up.

"Where are you?" Came the worried voice of Weiss

I ignored her question entirely. Pyrrha was my main concern, damnit.

"Weiss, please, you have to stop her."

"What?"

"Pyrrha, she's going after that woman…. At the top of the tower. She doesn't stand a chance."

She paused for a few seconds, probably trying to make sense of his rambling.

"Jaune, what are you talking about? Where are you?"

She was in danger, not him. And they were worried about HIM?

"Don't worry about me!... Please. You have to save Pyrrha!"

I devolved into slight sobbing.

"We will. Are you okay?"

I stared at the scroll for a moment. Incredulously looking at it. Pyrrha was in danger, and they were not acting? The tears I had shed moments ago were forgotten, the rage inside of me was released. I threw the scroll down in rage. Shattering it.

I collapsed to the ground, devolving into crying again now that some of my rage had dissipated. I meant what I said, Cinder was too powerful. Pyrrha had no chance. But I couldn't dwell on that. Even if the chance for her to succeed was miniscule, I couldn't give up. So I got up and collected the weapons I had dropped in my despair.

Despite being driven by my anger, a logical part of my brain still had some power over my body. So when I wanted to get up and start running towards Beacon my mind had enough power to belay that action.

I needed to calm down, hasty actions now could cost a lot later. I thought of the one thing that was guaranteed to bring back calm to me, the kiss and what it had meant. Was it real and meant as a testimony of her love or was it to distract me so that she could push me into that locker she had showed me into… the locker….. The locker had been launched before, judging by the crater where it stood in when I was shoved into it.

Suddenly it felt like a light had been lighted in my darkened mind. The idea was so crazy, so stupid that I don't think anyone has done anything like it before. But I didn't care, it was for Pyrrha, and I was ready to go anywhere and do anything for her.

I scrambled over to the control panel of the pod. The access code was still active. Good. The fuel gauge was still over half full. Perfect.

The only problem would be getting the coordinates for the tower. Goddammit, and I just destroyed my scroll so I could not look them up on the map.

I started to scan the UI of the thing, looking for anything and everything that could help me get back to Pyrrha. It was during that frantic search that a button caught my eye. It was the return button. It was generally used to return the pod to its last location, usually Beacon itself, to have the school resupply it and then have the pod relaunched to the hunter/huntress who needed it. But now it would be used to get me to Pyrrha.

I clicked it and it gave me a message on the interface.

 _Do you wish to return pod to last position. Y/N_

Below the text was a line of coordinates that made me thank my old geography teacher who had made me learn how to read them and how to input them. I needed to change the coordinates a bit to land where I wanted, but still, it was better than nothing.

Pyrrha and I had exited the tower to the south. So a small modification to the North coordinates should get me on the tower itself with some luck.

I tapped the last position bit that allowed me to change the destination and changed them to land a bit more north. With the coordinates modified, I could only get in and pray that my guess was correct.

Now I needed to figure out how to activate the pod from the inside. Or have someone else activate it for me.

Seeing as there was nobody around, the second option was out, so I needed to figure out how to trigger the launch from the inside. The touchscreen on the panel only reacted to certain things, a human hand being one of them.

The button was on the top right corner of the screen, and it was rather close to one of the holes in the door.

At that I sighed. I had a decision to make, I either took more time to find a better way, or I climbed into the pod and locked myself into it with no way to get out if I don't manage to reach the button.

In the end, I knew the correct choice. I had to go. I had to go NOW. Every second I wasted could mean Pyrrhas death.

So I got into the pod and closed the door behind me. Hearing it's locks click into place.

No going back now.

I snaked my hand through the hole, trying to reach the panel. I was so close. I could feel the tip of my middle finger touching the edge of it. Just a bit more. I pushed so hard that my hand actually started to move forward. I ignored the pain that crept up my arm as the metal ate through the skin on my hand and dug into muscle and blood vessels. Finally, as the blood started to flow freely from my hand, I reached where the return button was on the screen and jammed my finger on it.

The chime that came from the pod, signaling the launch, was music to my ears. Along with the sound of the pod taking off.

I wrenched my hand from the hole, noting how my aura was healing it and stopping the bleeding.

The now familiar feeling of being pressed to the bottom of the pod was not as frightening as it was before. Although I had the pressure keeping me down, it still couldn't stop me from drawing my sword and readying my scabbard shield for deployment.

The flight only lasted a fraction of a second longer than before, not usually a noticeable amount of time, but one that I felt as the pod finally impacted the top of Ozpins tower.

YES! MY CALCULATIONS WERE CORRECT!

The locks disengaged automatically, releasing me from the pod and revealing to me a scary sight. Pyrrha, on the ground and on her knees before Cinder. Her weapon and shield out of her reach and hope gone from her eyes. The only thing left in her was pure defiance that turned into fear as soon as she understood who the crazy person who rocketed in was.

Cinder was in the middle of forming a bow out of nothing. Her concentration now split between three sources, forming her bow, Pyrrha and me.

Both of them were shocked at my entrance, so I did what Pyrrha taught me to do in a situation like this. I took advantage of it.

Taking off in a sprint towards Cinder, all exhaustion gone from my body, replaced with pure adrenaline, I unfolded my shield and rammed her, **hard**.

She tried to move out of my way but was too slow, catching my shield with her face. She went flying, flipping head first into a pillar that somehow still stood in the ruined remains of Ozpins office.

She was dazed for only a moment, too short of a time for me to keep capitalizing on my advantage. She snapped up her now fully formed bow and in a split second had formed an arrow and was drawing it back.

That moment she took to aim gave me enough time to turtle behind my shield and cover Pyrrha as well as me with it.

 _Twang_

The arrow impacted on my shield, throwing me off balance and heating up my shield.

I regained my stance, knowing that moving would expose both me and Pyrrha to her arrows.

As I held my ground Pyrrha was behind me. Staring at me with shock written all over her face.

"Jaune? What are you doing here? You are suppose to be safe at Vale."

 _Twang_

Another arrow impacted my shield, but now that I knew how hard it would hit it didn't stagger me as much and I was able to hold my ground.

"A little busy here Pyrrha."

 _Thunk_

Another arrow hit my shield, but this time it didn't fall to the ground. I had a moment to be confused before something exploded on my shield and threw me over Pyrrha and into the low part of the wall that was still standing.

As I flew through the air I saw Ruby landing on a ledge that was once the balcony. Then I hit the wall and everything went blurry for a second. Once sharp shapes turning into splashes of color in my eyes.

I had barely slid to the ground when a piercing pain shot through my chest. I gasped for breath, trying to get some air into my lungs. I opened my eyes to see clearly once again. What greeted me was a shaft sticking from my chest, having pierced my chestplate with ease but slowing down for it.

The pain triggered another wave of adrenaline to shoot through my body and I started to get up again, ignoring the pain it caused me, only for another black shaft to pierce my ribcage and push me down again.

I felt tired, too tired to attempt getting up again. I let myself limp, feeling the pain course through my chest and strength leaving my body.

I could hear two screams. One filled with anger and sorrow. The other with pure rage.

Then it all went white as a flash and a single voice drowned out everything else.

The whiteness lasted but a few seconds before I faded into darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch2

When the blackness started fading I was surprised over all else. I thought I had died. Died to protect Pyrrha. Instead I now watched as the ruins of Beacon grew ever more distant as I was dragged away from it.

As memories of my last moments of consciousness returned to me I started to panic slightly. She had been too weak to even move and when I had gone down it had left her open.

I was too weak to struggle against whoever was dragging me, too weak to even move my limbs. The only thing I still had limited control over was my voice.

" _Pyrrha"_

All I could squeeze out of my throat was a quiet whisper. Barely even audible for me.

But it seemed like the ones dragging me had heard me anyways for I was set down and two girls came into my field of view.

Ruby and Weiss both looked worse for wear. Both of their 'combat skirts' showing rips and smudges on them with the occasional spec of blood. Both of them looked very concerned. Ruby even had tears in her eyes.

I tried to comfort them but it was to no avail. My voice would not come out, all my tries to force out even a single word were met with a wheeze of breath escaping my mouth.

The world was fading again. The edges of my vision darkening every moment. I could see their mouths moving but I only caught snippets of what they tried to say.

"Jau….ease….st..wit..u..do..t…ie."

"Do..t..yo…dar….do…us…yo..dolt."

Ruby was crying now, just great. Even Weiss, the normally icy girl was sobbing slightly, trying to hide her tears.

My head rolled to the side. Then I saw her. Pyrrha was being supported by none other than Cardin Winchester who was standing vigil over the group of battered hunters. His armor showed battle damage but he looked like he was still battle ready.

On her shoulder was Pyrrha, out cold if her steadily rising and falling breastplate was to be judged. I then came to a realization I had come to many times before. She was _beautiful._

Thus I faded, the image of the girl I loved burned into my mind and the desperate cries of my friends echoing in my ears.

My memories of what came next were fuzzy. I could hear snippets of conversation, crying, the rumbles of engines, even more people talking. I could smell ash, blood, fire. As time went on the moments where I could hear, smell and feel lengthened. The smells of a battlefield did not last long, soon I could smell the cleanliness of a hospital and feel….cold. After a while of sensing the same quiet and cold I got moved to a new place. There I could smell roses and hear the sound of music.

The music was somber, the kind of stuff they play at funerals. There were pauses in the music where I could hear people speaking. I could not make out what they were saying but I could tell the difference between the voices.

Mom, Dad, All my sisters(I could never tell them apart by voice), Ren, Nora, Ruby, Weiss, Pyrrha and even Cardin. They all talked in the same somber tone.

Soon everything went silent, suddenly I felt cold, like going underground to the family cellar in the middle of winter. There was a single voice that made some kind of speech, followed by the sounds of dirt hitting wood.

After that there came a long silence. I could soon feel everything going on around me. That means _nothing_. There was no sound, the only thing I could feel was cold and that got old fast and the only smell was that of old wood and dirt.

After what felt like months I finally started to regain sight. Well sight as in I could feel my eyes moving around and my eyelids blinking. Everything was so dark, not in a dark night dark but like no-light-at-all kinda dark.

Finally, after almost going mad from not being able to move I finally regained control of my limbs. I tried to move, only to find that I was in a box. A small wooden box where I had barely any room to wiggle.

I won't lie. I panicked. I think I would not be the only one who would panic over being buried alive. The coffin, the small devices which I soon identified as mementos from my friends and family, the ceremonial armor that is only put on an Arc when he is either on a parade or dead.

So when I panicked I started thrashing about. Trying to get _out._ It was all in vain, I was about 2 meters underground. 1 meter, if all of the Arc family funeral traditions were followed.

As I was trashing about I hit something that made me pause. I knew that clink. It was the sound of Noras grenades moving around in their magazine.

Knowing her explosives, a single tap from anyone but her could set them off. And I did not want to be in an enclosed space underground when one of those went off, hell I did not want to be next to it _period._ The bloody things could blow up a god damn house. Or a deathstalker when directly fired onto it because things were shaped charges in a grenade… Shaped charges…

I started to dig around the various things put into my coffin for the afterlife. A blade sharpener? Nope. A makeup kit? Just why? A plate and what felt like mouldy pancakes. Just why Nora? Aha, a knife.

Using my limited mobility I grabbed the knife and started carving into the coffin.

It took a while but I finally had a hole large enough in the coffin for the grenade box to fit through to the small cavern that had formed when some of the dirt had flowed into the coffin. So I carefully pulled the box to the hole and tenderly set it up in the cavern, making sure the shaped charge was pointing upwards.

Having set the box of explosives onto the wood of the coffin I had to find a way to block the inevitable pressure wave from hitting me.

The answer to that was another piece I had with me. A replica of my shield. I could tell it was a repro because it did not have the nick I had gotten on it when I used the shield as a sled to slide down the flight of stairs I had at home and hit my father's sword, that was at the end of the stairway, with it.

One had at the manual pin on one of the grenades and the other ready to deploy my shield. I took a breath, then another, and another. Before I could start second guessing myself I pulled the pin from the explosive.

My hand darted back into the coffin and the other pushed the activation switch, unfolding the mecha-shift shield to cover the hole in the shield. With the hole covered I only had to focus my aura on myself, my armor and my shield. The amount of aura I had pulled from my reserves made me glow a bright white, well bright for someone who has gotten used to pure darkness.

One…

Two…..

Three….

Fou* **Boom***

The world shattered around me. I could feel splinters from the coffin striking me but being repelled by my aura, the explosion heating my skin so hot that it should have been melting but having my aura heal the burns faster than they could form.

The pressure was immense, although most of it was directed upwards I could still feel it pushing down on me and trying to flatten me. Again my immense reserves of aura held my body together in the face of being squashed.

After the explosion faded and I finally dared to open my eyes I was greeted by the dark sky that signified it was nighttime. Good. Daylight would have probably blinded me. Even now I had trouble adjusting to the massive amount of light the moon gave as opposed to the darkness of the coffin.

I pushed myself up, ignoring the popping joints that only now got to move. I looked around me to see where I was. I had my suspicions but had confirmed it with a look around. The Arc family graveyard.

There were gravestones and crosses everywhere, we Arcs were numerous but we often died young. A statue here and there and in the distance I could see the old keep. The multitude of windows that had lights in them were like a beacon to me.  
I started shambling towards my family's ancestral home, only straightening when my muscles got used to being used again and did not cause me pain by using them.

Just as I opened the graveyards gate and got through it I was met with two people rushing towards me, swords drawn.

Thanks to my time underground I could see in the dark pretty well, so I Identified them easily. The sigil on their armor and their custom swords giving them away as two of the guards serving in the keep.

I waved at them and called out to them.

"Rodric! Foley! Am I glad to see you!"

Both of them stopped in their tacks with shocked looks on their faces. They shared a glance between each other before turning around and running away from me.

I was confused as hell. I mean I was supposed to be dead and burie… Oh. Yeah. Did not think that through.

I sighed at that and made my way towards the keep. Better to go and explain myself to everyone before they start to hunt a ghost.

The armor I wore was intimidating enough, with its bright white and angular plates that covered the whole body and the intricate designs depicting my family's history, add the fact that the face staring at you from that armor is the dead son of your lord who was buried here recently and you get something even experienced soldiers run from.

The castle was an old building, the Arc family got it as a small wooden tower that stood on a hill and was meant to guard the land. Through the centuries the generations of Arcs upgraded the castle. First replacing the wood with stone, then building an outer wall, then connecting the wall with the keep underground. After that the large towers were built and then another layer of walls was added. After that the huge defence guns, missile silos and AA guns were added.

It might be called a keep but looking at it, one could see that it was a fully fledged fortress that rivaled Beacon academy in size.

It took me a few minutes to get there. It was a good thing there were no grimm around because fighting a beowolf in the dark would have delayed me even longer.

Yup, they raised the alarm.

The lines of riflemen aiming their weapons at me was quite a good hint. I could see there was even an HMG manned in one of the towers and a shell being loaded into one of the 88 mm guns that was pointed towards me.

I just nervously stood there for a few moments before raising one of my arms and waving at them.

"Hey guys. Mind opening the gate so I could talk to dad?"

They glanced at each other, clearly not understanding what was going on. Some even started lowering their weapons. That is until my oldest sister came through a portal and appeared in the midst of the men.

Bianca was a blonde with blue eyes, just like everyone else in my family. She was fairly tall, 1.81 meters to be exact. But right now her usually loving sapphire eyes were hard as diamonds.

"Hold."

Always the commanding one.

"Hey Bianca, could you please let me speak with dad?"

"Aim"

I was shocked, was I seriously going to be gunned down on the orders of my own sister? That's just cruel. The men on the walls, loyal as they were, did not question her and propped their guns back on the battlements and retook aim at me.

"Sis? I just need to get some of my stuff and a new scroll."

"Who are you, _graverobber_?"

She spit out the last word as if it was venom. I was confused, yea, I was buried but the evidence of me being alive was staring her in the face, namely, I was infront of him.

"Sis? Its me. Jaune."

As my sister opened her mouth to answer me the gate was suddenly raised and a huge man, easily over 2 meters tall walked out in full battle gear and with 4 guards in tow.

He marched right up to me, crocea mors drawn and the sheath unfolded in a shield. He looked at me for a few moments before grabbing me in a crushing bear hug

"Jaune!"

Everyone visibly relaxed, either from me being confirmed as their lords only son or that I was corporeal enough that my dad could hug me.

"Air….. need….. Air."

My father quickly disengaged from the hug. Now just holding me in the air with both his hands on my sides.

"But. We buried you a month ago. Had a fancy funeral and everything. The doctors said you were dead, that you drowned from your own blood filling your lungs."

I was shocked. So I was down there for a month. A whole month. I should have run out of air long before waking up, or died of thirst, or hunger. Yet I felt just like I had before taking those arrows from Cinder. Like I had enough food and drink in my stomach.

"A-a month?"

"Yes, a month Jaune."

I was still trying to wrap my head around the weirdness of all this. Suddenly I saw a flash of red from the corner of my eye and saw Pyrrha. She was standing in the gateway with full armor on and her shield on her arm. What was weird was that she had a normal spear in her hand, not Milo. She was looking at me, her mouth agape and her hands slack on her sides.

"Jaune?"

AN: I have no idea where I am going with this but I'll try to keep writing, I had a more depressing chapter half ready when I decided that I could use something not quite as heartbreaking. Anyways, any criticism is welcomed and I look forward to looking at your suggestions for this story.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I have fuck all to do right now so I figured why not write some more.

"Jaune?"

For a moment nothing happened, then suddenly I was out of my father's hands and flying through the air towards her. My armor was black so it was obvious she was pulling me to her.

I expected a hug once I reached her, maybe a kiss, that was a big maybe. The last thing I expected was to see her fist cock back and meet my face. The breakneck speed I was flying through the air at was immediately negated as her fist impacted my jaw and made me do a backflip through the air.

I was dazed, she was not holding back so her fist was enhanced with her semblance, add the speed I was going and no one can blame me for seeing stars after impacting the ground.

As soon as I could see properly and not lose my balance because the world was moving around like a sea I got myself up again. I held my sore jaw in confusion.

"That was for putting yourself in danger."

If what she did at first was surprising, then what came next was even more so.

She grabbed my face and tilted my face down. And suddenly our mouths were joined, her hands still on my cheeks, not allowing me to pull out. Not that I would have. Instead I deepened our kiss.

So there we stood, two teens kissing infront of a hundred or so men and women who were looking at the scene dumbstruck. After the first minute some of them grudgingly pulled out their wallets and gave money to their partners.

After both of us got short on air we disengaged from the kiss, both of us blushing but smiling widely.

"And that was for coming back."

It was at that moment my father decided to intervene.

"Ahem. Uh, don't get me wrong but we should head inside."

Both of us blushed even harder when we realized that we had a large audience. So we both nodded and ran inside.

Being back home was a wonderful feeling. Yes, the hallways might be a bit cold but it was home. A place I had explore as a kid. The place where I knew every hiding spot, every secret tunnel and room. This was the place where I had feared to return to after signing up at beacon. I had stolen the ancestral weapons of my family, my father's weapon's.

Me and Pyrrha walked through the maze like corridors of the fortress, hand in hand and her head on my shoulder. We walked and we walked. Suddenly she pulled me into a room, my old room to be exact.

She had a small setup in there. A big duffel bag in one corner, red covers on my old bed, haphazardly discarded from the bed. And even a small shrine with my picture in a silver frame.

"Me and my family came here for the funeral, you should have seen it. Everyone was here. Ren, Nora, Ruby even Yang came here with her depression. When the ceremony ended my parents wanted to take me home, to continue my career as a duelist. You can imagine how disappointed they were when I said I wanted to stay here for a while. I thought that you died because of my stupidity, my pride. I wanted to stay close to your resting place, for closure, to grieve."

She rambled, and I let her. Any doubt that she returned my feelings vanished after she stopped talking. So I was left speechless and standing there with my mouth agape.

She noticed my expression and rolled her eyes as she pulled me into another kiss. This kiss lasted for a bit longer than the one we shared infront of the gate.

As we disengaged from it she looked at me with a devious look and with a simple motion of her hand and a quick usage of her semblance caused my armor to collapse to the floor, revealing my naked figure.

She smirked as she got on her knees infront of me.

 _ **The floor below**_

 _ **10 minutes later**_

The two guards had been guarding one of the crossing points that any invader or infiltrator needed to pass to get deeper into the tunnel when they heard loud cries from the floor above.

One of them looked like he was about to run off to investigate when his partner smiled and motioned him to listen. The other guard looked at his friend suspiciously but conceded and listened more intently.

" _Jaune. Jaune. Oh Yesssss. Jaune."_

As if on cue some smaller pieces of mortar fell down from the ceiling. Both of them relaxed again and smiled at each other.

"Young love, Eh?"

But the pleasurable voices got louder and louder by the minute. Both of the guards were soon grumbling because the voices were very distracting and they were getting even louder until finally they cried out in what the guards hoped was release and fell silent.

"As happy as I am for those two, I hope we don't get to guard this place ever again."

His partner just nodded and they both got ready for the remaining few hours of their watch. Now in blissful silence. Only for the two young lovers to start over again.

One of the guards fell on his knees.

"Why me Monty? Why me?"

The rest of the watch passed uneventfully for the two men. The two lovebirds upstairs got tired after their third round and went quiet, leaving the guards to their peace.

AN: Yea, I just felt like writing something like that. If enough people request it I might try my hand at writing a lemon, it would be my first time so you guys should not expect much from me if you want it. I feel a bit insecure that I will write them too much out of character and that I will butcher their dialogue because as a quiet person it is difficult for me to write them.

Oh, something else too. I am writing this like Jaune's semblance is immortality with a few quirks. He can still take damage but no matter how severe it is he will regenerate from it, he will enter regeneration stage with his 'death' as it is. He does not require food, water or food while he is regenerating or comatose or whatever you want to call it. I plan to explain it at a later chapter if I make it there.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: What the hell am I doing with my life? I should be writing a research paper for school that will decide if I get to the next grade or not. But instead I´m writing this. Fuck my life. Oh and sorry if the talking scenes feel a bit weird/robotic/derpy/not human enough. I am an introverted person and just gained enough courage to ask a classmate out last week. I don't have much experience with conversations outside of my family. Oh look, I'm rambling

The feeling of waking up is not something most people like. I am one of those people, and Pyrrha isn't. So when I opened my eyes I was pleasantly surprised to find her in my embrace. Then a deep red blush spread over my face. We were naked. In the same bed, spooning. I don't think I would be the only one to blush in a situation like that. My arms were around her, cupping her breasts in my sleep and I was still sheathed inside of her.

The second my grip on her breasts slackened she woke up. I could tell by her body tensing in my arms, the slight but sudden movement of her arms and the arching of her back.

"Hey Pyr."

Immediately after hearing my whisper she relaxed and slacked in my arms.

"Morning Jaune."

She turned around and looked at me, straight in the eyes. There was a long pause in our conversation, not awkward or anything, we were both just trying to come to grips with our actions last night.

"So uh….last night….was great?"

My apparent hesitation was enough to pull her out of her deep thoughts, causing her to chuckle slightly, her eyes full of happiness.

"Yes Jaune. It was great. It was something I had wanted to do for a while, but I was never brave enough to just admit my feelings for you, not before you…."

She stopped talking, the happy glint in her eyes disappeared, replaced by grief and she started sobbing.

It is really uncomfortable to have a girl with who you had sex with a couple of hours ago start sobbing in ones embrace. I was confused by her sudden change of emotions. One moment she is ontop of the world and next it's like someone drove over a puppy infront of her.

I didn't know what to do, so I followed my instincts and pulled her into a hug. So we stayed for a couple of minutes, her sobbing into my shoulder while I was sitting there, confused and wondering what I did wrong.

Slowly her sobs started to die down, she recomposed herself and looked at me, her tears glistering off her cheeks and sadness in her eyes.

"You can go now Jaune, I am at peace."

That sentence caught me off guard. Was what we shared last night just some random act? Not just two teens consummating their relationship, making up for lost opportunities and time?

I felt betrayed, angry. I poured my heart out to her during our night together. I thought she felt the same for Oum's sake.

Then she spoke up again.

"There is no reason for you to linger in the realm of the living for my sakes. I shall meet you in the underworld when my time comes, there is no need for you to cause yourself pain just to comfort me."

And just like that, all my doubts were washed away. Although my confusion remained. Where would she take the idea that I had returned as a ghost. I mean yes, I had died, atleast they thought I did, but still, the ghosts told in stories were never corporeal and you can't have sex with something you can walk through of.

"Pyrrha, It's me, Jaune. I'm alive."

Her eyes had slid downward, as if she was expecting me to just start disappearing into the thin air. When I spoke to her, her face whipped up so fast that I was worried for a moment that she had given herself whiplash. Her wide eyes bore into me, not seeing any change in my form, no floating away, no disappearing into thin air.

"B-But…. I saw you die. I held you in my arms as life slowly left your eyes, I was there when the medics declared you dead. I was there when…that bitch s-shot you."

She devolved into crying again. And I just hugged her tighter to her and tried to calm her.

"Shh. Shh. It's okay. I'm here Pyr, I'm here."

She gasped suddenly. Her hand now placed infront of her mouth.

"B-But, If you are here and alive. Who did we bury?"

I winced at that. She was most definetly not going to like this.

"Pyr, I was inside of that coffin. I remember being lowered into the grave, the last prayers of everyone and then the sound of being buried."

Her eyes went even wider than they had been before.

"What. S-So… We buried you _alive?_ "

Great moves me. Of course, not only did you imply that she gave up on you but also you pretty much said that she also buried you while you were still alive. _Fuck my life._

I didn't let her fall deeper into despair, I kissed her on her lips and poured all my feelings for her into that one kiss. To show her that I didn't blame her, to show that she was not at fault.

We were interrupted mid kiss by someone knocking on the door before pushing the heavy oaken door open.

We disengaged faster than lightning, her pulling the bedsheets onto her to preserve her modesty, leaving me to nakedly face a young man in metal armor adorned with the white shield and golden helmet of my house.

He blushed as soon as he entered the room, turning around and allowing me and Pyrrha to start dressing.

As soon as we were clothed, her in her usual bronze and leather armor and me in an old brown hoodie and jeans, he turned around and addressed me.

"Your lord father requests you in the great hall."

With his message passed on he turned around and bolted out of the room, leaving the two of us just standing there.

Seeing that my father requested my presence and I had no excuse to give to delay the inevitable 'chat' with my family, I sighed and strode out of the door. My back was straight and my head was held up high. If I was going to die or get disowned today, I would face it like a man.

We set off towards the great hall. Pyrrha trailing behind me as the fortress was so large and confusing that she probably didn't even know how to get to the great hall without wandering around for hours. Luckily I knew the place like the back of my hand and we made it there after a ten minute walk.

The doors were made of heavy ironwood trunks, inlaid with many, many different iron decorations and reinforcing pieces for the door. It is said that the things are all but impenetrable, being tested only once during the last war but standing up to everything, from rams to explosives.

But right now we were not under siege so the doors were slightly open, having a gap big enough for two people to walk in side by side. By the doors stood four more guards in heavy armor, two of them giving me and Pyrrha dirty looks for some reason.

As we stepped into the great hall I noted that not much had changed. The hall was still a massive structure, fat chance of that changing, the large tapestries depicting everything from my family's history to the current family tree and hunting scenes.

The hall had four rows of three large tables with long benches, those were for the soldiers and common folk. On the raised dais there was a single table with a throne like wooden chair in the middle, and my father sitting on it. On both sides next to him were my sisters and next to him sat an older blonde woman with dark brown eyes, those eyes were locked on me.

I didn't break my stride, although I wanted to just turn around and run away, I knew there was no point. Either Bianca would jump after me through her portal, my father would lift me up with his control of kinetics, or the 'Force' as we jokingly called it or Grete would track my aura. And those were just the least violent ones.

So I walked towards the podium, towards the family I had left behind to study at beacon instead of just living in the castle because I was the youngest child.

There were few people dining in the great hall aside from my family. A small group of soldiers there, a small family there and a few orphans there. All fell silent as I approached my family table and kneeled before it.

"Father. Mother. Sisters."

A few tense moments passed in tense silence. Then my father stood up and did something I really did not expect him to do. He smiled a broad and happy smile.

"Jaune, come here and give your old man a hug."

I just stood there frozen for a couple of moments. Here I was, hoping to not get disowned for stealing my family heirlooms and running away, and he wants me to _hug him_?

Then I snapped out of my frozen state and walked to him. I was taken off guard by the strong bearhug he gave me. Squeezing out any and all oxygen in my lungs. The heavy stares my sisters were giving me had disappeared, replaced by eager smiles and giggles at my quickly reddening face. The only one to hold onto the cold stare was my mother who still looked as if she wanted to skin me alive.

I patted my father's back with all the strength I had.

"Yield. I yield."

He must have realized what his 'hug' was doing to me because he dropped me down. But instead of getting left to catch my breath like I had hoped I immediately got swarmed by my sisters who were chattering over each other. Making it impossible for me to understand a word they said.

"JAUNE EDWARD ARC, YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE."

Uhoh, looks like mount mom just exploded. All my sisters went very quiet all of a sudden, god I sometimes wished I could shut them up like that.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE WERE? YOU DISSAPEARED, LEAVING BEHIND NOT EVEN A NOTE AND TAKING MORS WITH YOU."

Yup, she's redder than Pyrrhas hair. Speaking of whom, she was hiding behind a pillar. Probably trying to avoid my mothers gaze.

"WE LOOKED FOR YOU FOR WEEKS, ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT YOU HAD ATTENDED A SCHOOL FOR HUNTERS. WITH NO TRAINING AND ZERO EXPERIENCE. ARE YOU TRYING TO DRIVE ME INTO AN EARLY GRAVE WITH WORRY."

Okay Jaune, just weather the storm, wait for her to run out of ammunition and apologize to her th…..

"Urk?"

Suddenly I was in another deathly hug, but this time I was being choked by my mother who had grabbed me and was now trying to suffocate me.

 _Fuck my life_

AN: I am writing this from the hip, meaning I have vague, if any story thought out. It is mainly influenced by the day I have had before writing this and I tend to write this over multible days so there might sometimes be some lapses in logic that I might have tried to avoid before but have forgotten by the time the want to write comes over me again. Thanks for all of your kind reviews, you guys are really motivating me to sit behind the computer nearly every day and write this stuff. And to think this was suppose to be a one shot in the beginning.


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